Harris accepts Democratic nomination and promises peace in Middle East
“Kamala Harris pledged to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and chart a “new way forward” as president in her closing speech to the Democratic convention on Thursday night. In an address designed to tackle her political vulnerabilities head on, the US vice president vowed to deliver strong leadership on immigration and foreign policy. Discussing Israel’s war in Gaza, Ms Harris said: “Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done”. She pledged to “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself”, but added: “what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating.” – Daily Telegraph
- Harris officially accepts Democratic nomination – The Times
- And Harris pledges ‘new way forward’ – The Guardian
- VP launches blistering attack on Trump – Daily Mail
- US officials say Gaza ceasefire ‘in sight’ but Israel and Hamas downbeat – The Guardian
- Trump promises to visit Farage in Clacton – ITV News
Comment
Just 25% of voters believe Labour pay deals are affordable
“Only a quarter of voters believe that Labour’s public sector pay deals are affordable, polling for The Times suggests today. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has announced plans to give public sector workers a rise of up to 6 per cent this year at a cost of £9.4 billion to taxpayers. The Treasury has also agreed large pay rises for junior doctors and train drivers in an attempt to end their long running industrial action. YouGov polling suggests that Labour is paying a political price for the deals with only a third of voters (34 per cent) saying the party has handled the problem well. Almost 40 per cent of those questioned said the government had handled the issue badly, including 15 per cent of those who supported the party at last month’s election.” – The Times
- Reeves defends pay deals with unions – The Guardian
- Average energy bill to rise 10% – The Guardian
- Household optimism slips for first time in six months – The Times
- Capital gains raid by Reeves risks taxpayer £2 billion – Daily Telegraph
- Thousands of pensioners to receive winter fuel payments ‘too late’ – Daily Telegraph
- Astra Zeneca threatens to move vaccine production to US – FT
Starmer facing union pressure to repeal Thatcher’s anti-strike laws
“A key union backer will put Sir Keir Starmer under pressure to repeal all Margaret Thatcher’s anti-strike laws at next month’s Trades Union Congress. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has put forward a motion, expected to pass, demanding the “repeal of all anti-union laws and for positive legal rights for trade unions”. This would include the 1980s laws that banned flying pickets and closed shops, and also brought in secret ballots before industrial action and restricted collective bargaining.” – Daily Telegraph
PM to consider building scrapped HS2 route
“Sir Keir Starmer is to consider reviving the scrapped High Speed Two (HS2) rail routes north of Birmingham after a Labour-commissioned study recommended a sweeping programme of infrastructure spending. A report on rail by former Siemens UK boss Juergen Maier that was presented to party officials this week called for much of the HS2 network that was controversially abandoned by Rishi Sunak last October to be revived. The report was commissioned when Labour was in opposition and is not regarded as official. However, a party source said its findings would inform decision-making as the Government carries out its own review of rail projects.” – Daily Telegraph
Jenrick: We must be a party that rejects mass migration
“The immigration figures released yesterday will come as no surprise to the public. They confirm what the British people can see with their own eyes. The pace of change in our towns and cities is still too fast. Public services remain under strain from huge numbers that were never planned for. The housing crisis is as bad as it’s ever been, with demand generated by immigration outstripping even the most ambitious targets for supply. For nearly 30 years the public have voted for lower immigration, only for politicians of all stripes to raise it. Even after Brexit, when we finally regained control of our borders, the public were betrayed. Decisions taken in 2019 relaxed controls and sent net migration spiralling to historically unprecedented levels.” – Daily Telegraph
- Cleverly should be party’s obvious pick – FT
- Starmer blasted as Labour could relax freedom of movement rules – Daily Express
- Cleverly’s three-word Labour warning over UK’s borders – Daily Express
- Johnson tipped for shock huge comeback in massive Tory leadership role – Daily Express
- Reform members will soon be able to remove Farage – Daily Telegraph
Comment
>Today:
>Yesterday:
Minister accused of caving in to cancel culture on free speech act
“Ministers have been accused by some of Britain’s most eminent academics of giving in to so-called cancel culture after reversing plans to enshrine freedom of speech in universities. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said last month she was suspending legislation that would have forced universities to defend free speech on campus. She claimed the act, which was due to come into force this month, was “not fit for purpose” and could “expose students to harm and appalling hate speech on campuses”. But in a letter to Phillipson, more than 500 academics have called on her to rethink the decision”. – The Times
Labour ‘ramping up war on motorists’ by backing 20mph speed limits
“The new transport secretary has been accused of “ramping up the war on motorists” for giving the green light to councils to implement new 20mph zones and low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs). One motoring group said the plan “defies common sense” while another urged the minister to take into account the fact that millions of Britons needed to drive to work. Louise Haigh, who was appointed to the job when Labour was elected, said this week that local authorities would have her “absolute support” to introduce new schemes across the country.” – The Times
Zahawi: How my family fled Saddam Hussein
“When you tell people you grew up in a single-party state it’s almost meaningless. It might have more impact if I told you my wife’s uncle hid his own extracted teeth in the pocket of his trousers that he sent home to be laundered as a way of telling his family he was being tortured in prison. That a man I met in Kurdistan whom I’d known as a boy told me the men in his village were all dissolved in a bath of acid after they’d been removed from their homes in an ethnic cleansing drive. That on virtually every page of my wife’s family albums there’s a man who had been shot or hanged — usually by someone else in the same photograph. That is what it meant to grow up under a dictator.” – The Times
Phillips: ‘People think MPs are useless, posh and corrupt’
“As I’m on the train to Birmingham to talk to Jess Phillips, she’s trending on X/Twitter. This isn’t a rare occurrence, it has to be said. Other MPs smoothed their way to Westminster via Oxbridge, and then business, PR or the City — learning to be blandly but firmly noncommittal along the way. Phillips came via the Women’s Aid Federation, working with abused women in Sandwell in the West Midlands, and her “no-nonsense Auntie Jess in the pub just saying it like it is” vibe has consistently made her a regular “incident” on the world’s tetchiest social media platform.” – The Times
Comment
Other news
- War on landlords worsens as Labour cracks down on short-term lets – Daily Telegraph
- Cooper accused of suggesting everyone arrested over riots is guilty – Daily Telegraph
- Magistrates told to stop jailing offenders to ease prisons crisis – The Times
